GuideState

Privacy policy

GuideState privacy notice · 12 November 2026

Who is responsible

GuideState is operated by Aurea Libre Ltd, company number 16855995. Our registered office is International House, 10 Churchill Way, Cardiff, Wales, CF10 2HE. We are the controller of the personal information described here. Contact hello@guidestate.com about your information or this notice.

Exploring and using free tools

You can browse and use the available free tools without registering. Written exercise answers are processed in your browser; they are not submitted as website feedback. Follow each tool’s saving and download instructions. An optional free My GuideState account can save article and section references. Paid courses and online storage of workbook answers are not available. Our browser-storage notice explains appearance preferences and tool continuity.

My GuideState accounts

An account is optional. Supabase handles email-based sign-in and stores your account email, user identifier, authentication records and the article or section identifiers and save times, plus Start Where You Are chapter position and review marks, you choose to keep. Brevo delivers requested sign-in emails. We use this information to provide the account service you request, relying on performance of our agreement with you. We rely on our legitimate interests in protecting accounts and keeping the service reliable for proportionate security and maintenance processing. Creating an account does not join the website review group or request book notifications.

Written reflections, workbook notes and free-tool answers are not uploaded to your account. Saved collections are not public and are not used to infer a diagnosis or target marketing. When you use Start Where You Are while signed in, your chapter number, review marks and last-update time save automatically to your account, unless you switch automatic saving off in the course. This account service does not register you for course or marketing emails. Written course answers remain in your browser tab.

The member database is hosted in London. Other provider operations, security logs, support and subprocessors may process information elsewhere; the international-processing section below applies.

Saved records remain until you remove them or request deletion. Remove individual articles or sections, export your saved account data, or request account deletion from My GuideState. Send account requests to hello@guidestate.com, preferably from your account email. We may verify your identity. Limited security or legal records and provider backups may remain as necessary. Deleting an account does not cancel a separate Brevo subscription; email unsubscribe does not delete the account.

An unticked account preference lets you consent to occasional GuideState product updates. Consent is the basis for these optional communications. We record a verified choice, notice version, source and time, and let you withdraw it without losing account access. If you opt in, we share your verified account email address with Brevo to manage this separate mailing list. Mailing-list changes usually complete within a few minutes; My GuideState shows whether the change is confirmed. An unsubscribe recorded by our email provider is respected and does not affect free account access. Review emails and book notifications use separate choices. Account preference records remain while the account exists; minimal suppression records may remain to respect an unsubscribe.

Sign-in uses browser local storage to remember the session. Sign out on shared devices. Pending article or section choices are treated as valid for 24 hours to let you save them after signing in. An actively selected product-news preference and email are likewise valid for 24 hours and may be recorded after verified sign-in. Expired pending choices are discarded when the site checks them; browser records can remain until you return or clear website data. These browser records do not transfer automatically between addresses or devices. See the browser-storage notice.

Helping us review the website

If you choose to participate and confirm your email, we record your address, confirmation and participation preferences. We send review instructions, a feedback request and at most one reminder during your seven-day review window. We use your consent for these requested communications. Website review, book notification and any other subscriptions are separate choices.

Our feedback page prepares a draft in your own email app. Nothing is sent until you choose Send. Every answer is optional. The draft includes the review version, date, and any device, arrival route or feedback you choose to supply. Please do not include medical details, private exercise answers or information identifying other people.

We use your feedback to understand and improve the site, relying on our legitimate interest in making GuideState understandable and useful. We do not need sensitive personal information for this purpose. We will ask before publishing an identifiable quotation. Separate unticked choices let you request one later question or a short summary of changes.

To withdraw from the review, reply to a review email or email hello@guidestate.com. Replies and withdrawals are recorded manually; please allow one working day. Withdrawing from the review does not cancel a separately requested book notification.

Free course registration

You can register for Start Where You Are without creating an account, using the separate Brevo form and email confirmation. Brevo records your email, optional first name and confirmation to deliver the requested course access emails. We rely on your consent for those emails. You can withdraw through those emails or contact hello@guidestate.com. Alternatively, you can choose a free My GuideState account as part of registration. After verified account sign-in, Supabase records your account identifier, course identifier, registration time and the version of the course/account notice and terms you accepted. We use that record to provide the course registration and account service you request. This account route does not add you to the separate Brevo course-email list. Existing memberships are preserved. General news, book notifications and website review participation remain separate choices. Course registration records stay with your account until deletion; email consent and suppression records are retained as needed to respect your choices. Written course answers are not uploaded.

Book-availability notification

If you separately request and confirm a book notification, we use your address and confirmation record to email you when Quiet Anxiety is available to buy. The basis is your consent. This does not enrol you in website testing, courses or general marketing. You can withdraw by contacting us, or use an unsubscribe link where supplied in an email. A provider-wide unsubscribe may also stop other marketing emails from us. If you later submit and confirm a new request, Brevo may restore account-wide email permission; we still use the separate purpose-specific list and consent record to decide which emails you requested.

Service providers and email records

Namecheap hosts the website. Its server logs can include IP address, page requested, timestamp, referrer, browser information, response status and errors. Host-generated usage summaries may also be available. We use necessary technical information in our legitimate interests to deliver, secure and maintain the site. No additional advertising pixel, session recording or website analytics script is installed in this build.

Brevo supplies the signup forms and email delivery service. It processes contact, consent, delivery and communication-status records. Our email service is configured to require separate consent before tracking a contact’s email opens and link clicks. Contacts with no recorded tracking consent are excluded from individual engagement tracking. Brevo may still process aggregate statistics and necessary delivery information, and links may pass through its delivery service. These soft-launch forms do not request tracking consent. Delivery, confirmation, bounce and unsubscribe records are still processed to operate the requested service. Earlier test emails were sent before this setting was applied; changing the setting does not erase earlier records.

Our Start Where You Are signup form uses Google reCAPTCHA to help prevent automated abuse. When you open a protected form, Google may process IP address, browser and device information and interaction signals, and may use cookies or similar storage. This is separate from your email-subscription choice. See Google’s privacy policy and terms. We use the protection in our legitimate interests in preventing spam and securing registration.

Google Workspace/Gmail receives our email replies and voluntarily sent feedback. Your own email provider also handles anything you choose to send. We limit access to people administering GuideState and providers needed to deliver these services. We do not sell personal information.

International processing

These providers and their subprocessors may process information outside the UK. Their data-processing terms describe the locations and transfer safeguards applicable to their services, including adequacy arrangements and contractual safeguards where relevant. You can request information about the safeguards applying to your data by contacting us.

How long we keep information

We remove identifiable review feedback and round-administration details from our active mailbox, Brevo records and working exports within 90 days after the review round closes, unless needed for a specific unresolved request. We retain anonymous findings. Minimal consent and suppression records may remain where needed to show what was requested or honour a withdrawal.

Book-notification information is kept until the requested notification has been sent or you withdraw, subject to records needed to respect your choices. We review pending requests if publication is delayed. Brevo transactional delivery logs are currently set to expire after one month, and new transactional email previews are not stored. Hosting logs and provider backups follow their necessary service and security retention arrangements. Deletion from active records does not mean immediate erasure from all provider backups.

Your choices and rights

You can withdraw consent at any time without affecting earlier lawful processing. Where applicable, you can request access, correction, deletion, restriction or portability and object to processing based on legitimate interests. Contact hello@guidestate.com; we may need to verify your request. You can complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office. Providing an email or feedback is optional and is not required to explore the site.

Your right to object

You can object to our use of your information based on legitimate interests. Email hello@guidestate.com and explain which processing you object to. We will consider your circumstances and stop that processing unless we have compelling grounds to continue or need it for legal claims. For optional email communications, you can withdraw your consent instead; your account and free site access do not depend on marketing consent.